Group Activities

The Ballantyne features an array of engaging on-site group activities for maximum convenience. All in-house options require advance booking at a minimum of two weeks. Buffet options are available to enhance the experience (additional costs will apply).

An authentic local sushi chef will take you through the history and art of making sushi. The audience will participate in answering questions and will sample the sushi made by the sushi chef. The chef will demonstrate how to make a variety of rolls with and without raw fish. Participants will be provided with tools for the class to learn how to roll sushi and also information on where to purchase these tools should they want to roll sushi at home.

Please note ~ this is not a meal. Your Meetings & Events contact would be happy to discuss options with you for arranging additional food and beverage if desired.

The Ballantyne Executive Pastry Chef will share the sweet and colorful history of the popular macaron. This interactive demonstration will help guests understand the technical baking process for macarons and the various fillings, flavors, colors and decorations. Guests will be invited to assist in making macarons and each attendee will receive a container of 5 macarons at the end of the demonstration.

David Haddock, an 18-year veteran of the specialty coffee industry and owner of Boquete Mountain Coffee will share the bold and flavorful history of coffee. This interactive demonstration will offer general coffee knowledge such as types of coffee beans, growing regions, blending techniques and flavors. Guests will also have the opportunity to sample various coffees and take home a small bag of coffee to brew at home.

This course will offer general wine knowledge such as grape types, growing regions, varietal tastes and flavors. The instructor will also review what foods are best paired with certain wines. Three white wines and three red wines are offered in this demonstration and are paired accordingly with the chef’s selection of six seasonal canapés.

Please note ~ this is not a meal. Your Meetings & Events contact would be happy to discuss options with you for arranging additional food and beverage if desired.

This course will offer general beer knowledge such as beer styles, brewing, ingredients, history of beer, brewing processes, overall impact on domestic brewing, distribution, and a brewery map for North Carolina. The instructor will also review what foods are best paired with certain beers. Six local North Carolina beers are offered in this demonstration and are paired accordingly with the chef’s selection of six seasonal canapés.

Please note ~ this is not a meal. Your Meetings & Events contact would be happy to discuss options with you for arranging additional food and beverage if desired.

This course will provide general whiskey knowledge encompassing whiskeys, bourbons and scotches and how to correctly taste and evaluate different styles and compare flavor profiles. This course will introduce attendees to the history and science behind cask-aged spirits as well as the different regions of distillation and the aging process. Four panels are involved in this course and preferences for whiskey, scotch or bourbons may be discussed further with the instructor prior to the course.

This course will demonstrate the Anatomy of A Bankers Back. The instructor will review and demonstrate self-treatment for chronic pain and educate attendees on the causes of chronic back pain. Guests will leave with a tennis ball and a golf ball for home treatment. Guests will also receive a 10% discount on foam rollers purchased at The Spa at Ballantyne.

Demonstrations and Challenges that require participation of a specific instructor or chef are subject to availability to be confirmed prior to booking.

Culinary Challenge

Minimum Number of Participants: 10

Maximum Number of Participants: 60

Estimated Duration: 2 Hours

Pricing: $50 Per Guest*

Chef Fee: $300 Per Chef (1 Chef Per 20 Guests Required

Grill Rental: $100 Per Grill (total of 4 grills available, quantity determined by guest count and menu) Discounted pricing of $25 per flipchart offered through OnEvent Services Audio Visual. Your Event Manager will confirm during the planning process how many flip charts are needed, and if the rental of a microphone and speaker is required for your teambuilding activity.

In this culinary challenge, groups will be divided into teams of up to 8 guests per team. Teams will be given a “pantry” of ingredients selected by the Ballantyne Chefs and each team is tasked with creating a dish with all or some of the pantry ingredients. Teams will be supplied with their own cooking stations and grills (weather permitting). Teams will be given 1.5 hours to prepare a dish and will be judged on the dish creativity, plate presentation and overall quality of the finished meal. Two chefs from the culinary team at Ballantyne will taste each dish created and the winning team will be awarded with a certificate.

Please note ~ this is not a meal. Your Meetings & Events contact would be happy to discuss options with you for arranging additional food and beverage if desired.

In the Best Slider Challenge, groups will be divided into teams of up to 5 guests per team. Teams will be given access to a large selection of spices and ingredients and appropriate accompaniments (lettuce, tomato, cheese etc.) to create their custom sliders. Each team will receive five beef sliders and will be given 45 minutes to prepare and cook five sliders. Teams will be supplied with their own grills (weather permitting). The team will then be given 30 more minutes to decide which 1 slider to prepare and present for judging. Teams must also come up with a name for their slider submission. Sliders will be judged on ingredient creativity, plate presentation and overall quality of the finished meal. A chef from the culinary team at Ballantyne will taste 1 slider from each team and the winning team will be given award certificates.

Please note ~ this is not a meal. Your Meetings & Events contact would be happy to discuss options with you for arranging additional food and beverage if desired.

In the Sensory Experience Challenge, the group will be divided into teams of up to 10 guests per team. Teams will participate in timed rounds and will use all of their senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound) in naming various ingredients. Examples of ingredients may be various vinegars, spices, unique produce etc. This will be done in a knockout round setting so the team or teams with the most correct answers each time will move on to the next round. The ingredients will be the same for all teams in each round. The event will continue until one team is declared the winner. The winning team will be given award certificates.

In the Wine Blending Challenge, the group will be divided into teams of up to 10 guests per team. Teams will be given six different varietals of wine as well as tasting cups, bottling materials, and labeling materials. The instructor will provide a brief overview of wine blending methods and each team will then blend the various wines to create their own custom blend. The instructor will then be presented with a bottle of the custom blend wine from each team. Wines will be judged on creativity of labeling, taste and overall quality of the finished product. A member of the beverage department at Ballantyne will taste each custom wine blend and the winning team will be given award certificates.

This contest may be held indoors or outdoors and is organized by a staff member from Spark By Design. Below are some examples of team Olympics activities your group can participate in.

HOOP PASS: The team holds hands in a line. One hula-hoop and one rope loop is put at the beginning. The team must pass the hoop and loop through the line without breaking hand contact. Each team will be timed and best times will get points.

BACKBONE: The team makes “backbone” with balloons. The team must coordinate efforts to move through a curvy course without breaking the backbone and/or dropping balloons. Elapsed time with penalty additions will be used to determine team points.

NUCLEAR MELTDOWN: This activity consists of a 20-foot square that is off limits to the group. In the center of the square is the core filled with “hot” rocks and the cooling substance. The cooling pipes broke, and the group must somehow cool the rocks with the cooling substance without stepping inside the square before meltdown. Their only resources are a bicycle inner tube and 12 lengths of cord. Total time will be used, with penalty additions, to tabulate team points.

EGG DROP: Straws and tape are used to execute a successful (unbroken egg) drop. Points are awarded based on the height of the drop.

THE AMOEBA RACE: Each team uses a round ring tied with a string to transport a ball from point A to point B. The ball must be dropped into a small bucket. Total time will be used, with penalty additions, to tabulate team points.

PING PONG BALL RELAY RACE: Spoons containing Ping-Pong balls held in the mouth are used to race around a short course relay style. Points are awarded for time plus any penalties for dropping the ping pong ball, etc.

KEY PUNCH: Team members must touch thirty small numbered disks as quickly as possible.

This contest is typically set up on the putting green next to the Golf Pavilion. The guests are grouped into twosomes or foursomes. They start together and move through nine holes outlined by glow-in-the-dark sticks. We provide putters and glow-in-the-dark balls as well as an event facilitator. The winning team will be given award certificates.

Glow-in-the- Dark Long Drive Contest
Outdoors Weather Permitting (Indoor backup available at Dana Rader Golf School based on availability)

This contest is held at several different places on the golf course, often on the 1st tee which is close to the Golf Pavilion. We provide the necessary equipment including golf clubs, glow-in-the-dark balls and facilitators for the event. The three guests with the longest drive will be given award certificates.

Classroom Central serves high-poverty schools in six school districts: Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Gaston, Iredell-Statesville, Union, Kannapolis & Lancaster. Teachers and school personnel in qualifying schools “shop” for free school supplies throughout the academic year. All materials distributed are used to create inviting learning environments and to support students’ academic and personal growth. Our vision is to ensure that all children living in poverty have all the tools they need to not only learn but to succeed. When equipped with the proper supplies, we believe there’s no limit to what children can achieve. The efforts of creating pencil pouches helps to support area children living in poverty and will provide them with the most basic tools they need to be successful in school. A United Way contact may be arranged to speak to the group and maximize the impact of the group’s efforts.

This project helps level the educational playing field for the 135,000 students Classroom Central serves. Groups will assemble pencil pouches which will then be distributed through Classroom Central’s Free Store. Each kit includes a pencil pouch, one pencil, one pen and one eraser.

Contact for United Way of Central Carolinas:
Leslie Rink, Volunteer Center Director
United Way of Central Carolinas
D: 704.371.6324
lsrink@uwcentralcarolinas.org

Groups will be given items to prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for various homeless shelters in the Charlotte area (Men’s Shelter of Charlotte, Center of Hope, Urban Ministry Center). The group will assemble 300-800 PB&J sandwiches for lunch and the sandwiches will then be delivered to the United Way for distribution. A United Way contact may be arranged to speak to the group and maximize the impact of the group’s efforts.

Contact for United Way of Central Carolinas:
Leslie Rink, Volunteer Center Director
United Way of Central Carolinas
D: 704.371.6324
lsrink@uwcentralcarolinas.org

There are more than 4,000 homeless children in CMS. A Child’s Place works to erase the impact of homelessness on children and their education. By providing educational and emotional support as well as medical referrals, children are able to stay in the classroom.

Groups will be given items to prepare snack bags for children, Each snack pack will include 3 items (juice box, crackers or granola bar, and a fruit cup or applesauce) and will be packaged in a lunch size brown paper bag. A United Way contact may be arranged to speak to the group and maximize the impact of the group’s efforts.

Contact for United Way of Central Carolinas:
Leslie Rink, Volunteer Center Director
United Way of Central Carolinas
D: 704.371.6324
lsrink@uwcentralcarolinas.org

http://www.uwcentralcarolinas.org

Operation Military Care
Offered through Spark By Design

• Minimum Number of Participants: None
• Maximum Number of Participants: None
• Estimated Duration: 30 Minutes to 1 Hour
• Pricing: Starts at $1550 for up to 10 guests (Based on 2 teams of 5 and 2 military care packages). Price increases $675 for every additional 5 guests.

This group activity is organized by a staff member from Spark By Design. The group will be divided into teams and will then engage in collaborative action-based problem solving activities. Each of the 3 to 5 activities must be completed to earn items for military care packages. After all the care package items have been acquired, teams will assemble the boxes. Team members will design and write a letter or homemade card to be placed in the each care package. A member of the Spark By Design team will then coordinate the delivery of the military care packages.

Build A Bike ~ Offered through Spark By Design or Collabor8 Event Group

Minimum Number of Participants: 10

Maximum Number of Participants: None

Estimated Duration: 2 Hours

Pricing: Starts at $1700 for up to 10 guests (Based on 2 teams of 5 and 2 bikes). Price increases $775 for every additional 5 guests.

This group activity is organized by a staff member from Spark By Design or Collabor8 Event Group. The group is divided into teams of 5-6 and is given unassembled bicycles. Each team must choose assemblers, instruction handlers and direction givers. Prior to assembly, teams must complete a brain teaser exercise to earn the tools necessary to build the bike. Teams will be given 10 minutes to plan their approach to the assembly. The teams will then have 50 minutes to complete the assembly after the 10-minute planning period. Upon completion, the teams, along with facilitators, will have 10 minutes to test the bicycles for safety. Upon the safety test participants will present the bikes to the non-profit recipient. The non-profit recipient and representative from the non-profit will be coordinated by Spark By Design or Collabor8 Event Group.

Pricing: Starts at $2900 for up to 20 guests (Based on 4 teams of 5.) Price increases $725 for every additional 5 guests.

This group activity is organized by a staff member from Collabor8 Event Group. The group is divided into teams and is given a rich assortment of food-related building supplies such as Mac & Cheese, Pasta, Pasta Sauce and other non-perishable food items teams will use to build their hole of the golf course (groups with 5 teams or less will build 2 holes per team.) Each team will be responsible for designing and constructing one hole of the course. The idea is to make each hole fun, challenging and conceptual. Upon completion of
the final course, teams will select representatives to serve as official scorers and course marshals, and other selected representatives to actually play the course. Once complete, the course materials will be donated to charity. Whether or not you’re at home on the fairway, this is a great teambuilding event that lets everyone get involved in a meaningful way. The non-profit recipient and representative from the non-profit will be coordinated by Collabor8 Event Group.